1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods designed to reduce the dangers presented by intentional and unintentional actions by drivers employing pedals for vehicle acceleration and braking. More particularly, it relates to an improved design and configuration of foot control areas of present motor vehicles, such that it takes advantage of a driver's natural and instinctual physiological and psychological response in rapidly changing traffic conditions, to achieve quicker and more accurate pedal control and employment. In addition, the device relates to the implementation of electronic sensing means communicating with software adapted at the task of determining occurrences of incorrect acceleration and other driver related errors to provide automatic braking and/or throttle lockout.
2. Prior Art
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury and death in America. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that several specific driver behaviors and errors contribute to ninety percent (90%) of all motor vehicle crashes. Crashes caused solely by vehicle or external factors (e.g., the failure of one or more vehicle components or road or weather conditions) account for the other ten percent (10%) of vehicle crashes.
At its most basic level, driving requires that a driver have the adequate mental and physical abilities of sight, hearing and feeling, the mental and physical ability to correctly interpret the proper reaction to what is being seen, heard and felt, and the necessary mental and physical condition to carry out the correct reaction. These abilities will of course change at different rates for different people as they get older. Not surprisingly, teenage drivers, who must learn new skills needed for driving and who frequently engage in high-risk behaviors, such as speeding and/or driving after using alcohol or drugs, have the highest fatality rate from motor vehicle crashes of all age groups, followed closely, based on miles driven, by drivers 65 years old and older. People 65 and older are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S., and by 2030, a quarter of all licensed drivers in the United States will be in that age group.
Age alone, however, is not a reliable indicator of driving ability. Some people in their 90s and beyond are more healthy and fit for driving than many people half their age. Still, as a general rule, it can be said that the older a person gets, the bigger the risk he or she tends to pose as a safe driver. As the over-65 population grows, more elderly people will be driving more miles and more frequently. A fact which has led the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to predict that the number of elderly driver traffic fatalities in the U.S. could triple by 2030.
One phenomena that afflicts young and old drivers alike is a driver response known as “pedal error” or as an unintentional acceleration while attempting to brake the vehicle. A third type of driver could be added to the list of those afflicted if one were to consider an experienced driver, who for the first time, is starting a different and unfamiliar car in which he or she has had absolutely no experience.
It must be noted that in this present application the term ‘pedal error’ is to be defined to include any misuse of a motor vehicle's foot controls, such as hitting the accelerator when intending to hit the brake, a sensing of impending misuse of vehicle's foot controls, slipping from the brake to the accelerator, or similar occurrences where the driver is not intending to press the accelerator but does so. In addition, the term further is employed with persons prone to pedal error type conditions, for instance drivers operating under especially stressful conditions, such as any driver with very little affinity for, or understanding of, mechanical systems, and their often complex procedures.
There has been little public notice of pedal error until two horrendous accidents. Once such occurrence was in Santa Monica, Calif. in 2003. A second occurrence was in San Diego County, Calif. in 2009. Both incidents made headlines nationally and even world wide.
In the Santa Monica incident, during an open-field farmer's market in Santa Monica attended by hundreds of patrons, an 86 year old man, while looking for a parking spot, attempted to stop for a pedestrian. However, when he stepped on the throttle instead of the brake, and the car wouldn't stop, he continued his mistake by continuously pumping the gas pedal which he thought was his brake. During the Santa Monica incident, the car proceeded through the market for approximately 2 blocks (750 feet), traveling as fast as 70 mph before coming to a stop when the vehicle finally landed in a ditch. As a result, 11 people were killed and 63 were injured, many critically so.
In the San Diego County incident, a highly experienced California Highway Patrolman, was off duty and traveling with members of his family. This driver was driving a newer Lexus vehicle which had been loaned to him from a dealer and he was as such unfamiliar with the vehicle. While the vehicle was being driven on the highway, an emergency telephone call was placed from a passenger sitting in the rear of the vehicle. The passenger was screaming repeatedly that the throttle was jammed on the vehicle and the car had accelerated to 100 miles per hour when suddenly the telephone call ceased.
Later it was found that the car had approached an intersection at a high rate of speed and missed the turn and gone airborn for at least 150 feet before landing and bursting into flames. The driver and his family were all killed in the crash.
The San Diego incident shows that even a highly experienced police officer, who would normally drive safely with his family in the car, can be so unfamiliar with a vehicle as to lose control.
In both the Santa Monica and San Diego crashes, if the present invention had been installed in the vehicles, the accidents would have been prevented. While one accident was a mistake by an elderly driver and the other a mistake of a highly trained driver, the common problem was faulty pedal designs of conventional vehicles. Such faulty designs continue to cause accidents. Further, current throttle and brake systems to do employ electronically-activated or mechanically actuated means for automatic braking and/or throttle lockout during accidental or incorrect throttle usage.
Both the Santa Monica and San Diego accidents are examples of conventional “pedal error”. Because of the national and even world wide attention these two events gained, they received intensive review by the NTSB, (National Transportation Safety Board) in the United States which discerned that pedal error was the root cause.
Thousands of pedal errors are made all over the U.S. every year and little publicity was given them if only one or two fatalities occurred. Further, without living and reliable witnesses to recount the event, there is little possibility the actual cause of such crashes are properly identified as pedal error. The number of pedal error type fatalities which are misidentified every year is estimated in the hundreds of thousands worldwide.
There has been identified what is believed as four types of drivers that are associated with an increased probability of improper foot control usage, including the unintentional and mistaken use of throttle instead of brake referred to as “pedal error”. It happens more frequently to senior citizens, to young drivers just learning to drive, to people who are driving an unfamiliar car, and to those drivers who have little affinity for, or understanding of, mechanical systems and procedures.
The problems experienced with senior drivers, new drivers, and driving an unfamiliar car are almost self-explanatory. Drivers with little affinity or understanding of mechanical systems and procedures are another matter entirely and may require considerable sensitive thought to understand. Experience has shown that those who are very mechanically inclined are able to easily overcome any system or procedure that is not exactly logical and correct, or which may be unnecessarily difficult to understand and operate. Such persons are naturally oriented to details and particulars. If there is something wrong in the process, they will simply overcome the difficulty and accomplish control.
However, those who are not at all mechanically inclined, tend to consider such detailed systems and procedures from a very universal and overall point of view. They don't understand the detailed process as much as the overall result. The question their mind will posse is, “what is the total human value of the process; is the overall process easy, simple and correct”. If it is not, they usually don't understand why; they just have a strong intuitive perception that something is not right.
Such perception often leads to confusion and a hesitation to act correctly during emergency type situations. It will usually also be noticed that this type of person will never seem completely relaxed behind the wheel, sitting at attention with both hands on the wheel and staring straight ahead at traffic. It is this type of driver that has lead the inventor to discover a very serious, long standing flaw in the design of the foot control system of motor vehicles and has invented a correction to such flaw.
This most serious flaw in the design of motor vehicle foot controls that has existed since the very beginning of automotive construction, forces a driver during emergency type situations, to perform a maneuver which is inherently awkward. Further, it is time consuming and the exact opposite of the normal and instinctual human response in such situations. Still further, until the conception of the current invention, there has been no incorporation of means for field proximity or motion sensing of the controls of the brake and throttle systems for providing electronic or mechanical means for automatic braking and throttle lockout (i.e. rendering the vehicle unable to provide acceleration) in vehicle design, but for the direct control by the driver which as noted can be flawed.
The two most important functions in the safe control of an automobile are both directional control and speed control. Any misuse of directional control (steerage) will obviously have a negative effect on speed control. By the same token, any misuse of speed control by using throttle or the brake can result in a negative effect on steering, as well as a resulting accident from acceleration.
With regard to speed, the brake is of greatest importance. It is absolutely imperative that immediate braking be applied to slow the vehicle any time when necessary. There is seldom however, any need for immediate emergency acceleration. However, immediate or instantaneous braking using conventional controls is impossible. This is because conventionally in cars and trucks, the right foot of the driver is employed to control both the brake and throttle. From a time standpoint, the driver's right foot is most often riding the throttle pedal. Because study has shown that it takes at least one and one-half to two seconds for the driver to move their foot from throttle to brake, instantaneous braking while the vehicle is moving during emergency situations happens far too late. During the lag caused by foot-transfer from throttle to brake, the vehicle can travel a large distance at high speeds. This is why many race car drivers employ one foot for the throttle and the other for braking. Since they do not have to transfer from one pedal to the other at high speeds, they have continuous control and instantaneous braking when needed.
As noted, the right foot pressing on the throttle pedal is incapable of applying instantaneous braking as it takes a minimum of one and one-half to two seconds for the right foot to go from throttle pedal to brake pedal in conventional vehicle designs. This is because it takes four steps for a driver to apply braking. First, they take pressure from their foot to reduce throttle to idle. Next they must raise the right foot above the throttle pedal. In a third action, the driver must move the raised foot, horizontally left, to a position hopefully centered over the brake pedal. Lastly, the driver must push their elevated foot forward to hopefully apply brakes in time to avoid whatever caused the braking reflex in the first place.
Such a time delay is most unacceptable in the rush of an emergency type situation and especially during high speed travel where the vehicle will travel many yards in each second. There are several situations that can often affect the ability to execute timely braking First, the driver's foot can move too far in the left direction to the left for the brake, or not far enough. This will cause the driver to miss the brake entirely by pushing down on the floor rather than the brake. Even if the driver realizes his mistake and correctly replaces his foot on the brake pedal, it is still usually too late to avoid an accident.
There are situations when the driver's foot or leg may be physically unable to move or elevate high enough and/or move quick enough laterally, to be properly centered over the brake pedal. Thus, they will strike the brake shaft instead, and possibly merely press their foot on the floor to no avail.
There are also those circumstances that confuse certain drivers resulting in a late brake application or none at all. Further, without proper electronic or mechanical brake and throttle position sensing resulting in one or both of automatic braking or throttle lockout, there will always be worse scenarios which occur when the driver accidentally mistakes the throttle pedal for the brake which causes an accidental application of throttle instead of brake. Rather than slowing as intended, the vehicle will accelerate.
In any event, the ultimate result of any such occurrence can cause severe consequences. In emergency situations requiring instantaneous and effective braking, either there will be no braking, the actual braking will be too late, or worse, the driver will hit the wrong pedal causing accidental acceleration instead of the desired slowing of brakes. It seems however, that these problems can be alleviated through the employment of the mechanical or electronic means for controlled or automatic braking and throttle lockout within the vehicle pedal design and implementation as disclosed herein.
As noted, it is often very difficult to determine the actual cause of an accident, especially if there are no surviving or reliable witnesses. Those accidents caused by improper speed control (no braking, late braking or accidental acceleration) may be referred to as “resultant causes” as there are usually several obscure “initial causes” that have brought about the final resultant act. Again, if the accidental acceleration was recognized by an electronic or mechanical sensor or the like, the resultant accident could have been averted. For example, an electronic or mechanical sensor could be placed in a communication with the throttle of the vehicle, which when triggered due to an accidental acceleration, would instead result in automatic breaking and/or a throttle lockout both of which can be electronically or mechanically actuated.
It is the object of the present invention to rectify the above noted problems with the disclosed foot control design of present utility and passenger motor vehicles with pedals configured to take advantage of natural human responses while driving.
It is a further object of this invention to employ the left foot as the primary braking foot and the right foot as an optional secondary braking foot to enhance driver control of vehicles.
It is another object of the invention herein to correct the very serious problems with conventional pedal designs in vehicles which are especially dangerous even near-emergency type situations.
It is an additional object of this invention, to provide a vehicle pedal control system that takes advantage of the positive instinctual physiological human response to approaching road conditions, to speed braking and a de-acceleration of vehicles.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide means for electronic sensing of the throttle and/or brake system, which when operatively employed using electronically controlled or simple analog actuated components, will provide resulting mechanical or electronic means for automatic initiating braking and/or throttle lockout.
Finally, it is an object of this invention, to rid vehicles of driver-caused delay from acceleration to braking, by removing the need to raise and laterally translate the driver's foot to brake the vehicle.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.